FundersMaryland

Caplan Family Foundation

Owings Mills, MD · EIN 52-2005222. Reported 272 grants totalling $491,310 to 101 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$491,310granted, 2021-2024
101organizations funded
82%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,725,693assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Caplan Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $500. Half of everything it gave fell between $250 and $1,500; the smallest was $100 and the largest $20,250. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
158 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
91 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
7 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
16 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Baltimore Symphony OrchestraBaltimore, MD$80,500442024
United Way of Central MarylandBaltimore, MD$60,000442024
Baltimore Educational Scholarship TrustBaltimore, MD$40,000442024
Beth AmBaltimore, MD$30,815442024
Artist SpaceNew York, NY$29,500222023
Mt Vernon Place ConservancyBaltimore, MD$20,000442024
ACLUNew York, NY$13,600442024
Artists' SpaceNew York, NY$12,000112024
Fund for Educational ExcellenceBaltimore, MD$11,000442024
Middle Grades PartnershipBaltimore, MD$10,000442024
Roland Park Country SchoolBaltimore, MD$9,000442024
Baltimore Museum of ArtBaltimore, MD$8,000442024
Millennium Film WorkshopBrooklyn, NY$8,000222024
The Walters Art MuseumBaltimore, MD$8,000442024
St Ignatius Loyola AcademyBaltimore, MD$7,500332024
Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD$7,000442024
Whitney MuseumNew York, NY$6,550222022
American Red CrossWashington, DC$6,500332024
Studio Museum HarlemNew York, NY$6,500442024
Millennium Film JournalNew York, NY$6,000222022
Democracy NowNew York, NY$5,000442024
Food Bank for New York CityNew York, NY$4,600442024
Associated Black CharitiesBaltimore, MD$4,000442024
Citymeals on WheelsNew York, NY$4,000442024
Creative AllianceBaltimore, MD$4,000222022
Phillips CollectionWashington, DC$4,000442024
Shriver Hall Concert SeriesBaltimore, MD$4,000442024
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York, NY$3,420222022
Barnard CollegeNew York, NY$3,000332024
Public TheatreNew York, NY$3,000442024
SquashwiseBaltimore, MD$3,000442024
Irish Repertory TheaterNew York, NY$2,800442024
Film Society of Lincoln CenterNew York, NY$2,500442024
Immigration EqualityNew York, NY$2,500222024
Share Our StrengthBaltimore, MD$2,500332024
Jewish Museum of MarylandBaltimore, MD$2,375442024
Atlantic Theater CompanyNew York, NY$2,000222022
Madison Square Park ConservancyNew York, NY$2,000442024
Montefiore Medical CenterBronx, NY$2,000442024
Professional Children's SchoolNew York, NY$2,000442024
Rainforest Foundation USBrooklyn, NY$2,000222022
Third Street Music SchoolNew York, NY$2,000442024
Young AudiencesBaltimore, MD$2,000222022
Rainforest TrustWarrenton, VA$1,750222024
Vineyard TheaterNew York, NY$1,700222022
Signature TheaterNew York, NY$1,600442024
Foundation Fighting BlindnessColumbia, MD$1,500332024
Park Avenue ArmoryNew York, NY$1,500332023
The House Foundation for the Arts IncNew York, NY$1,500222023
Chelsea Music FestivalNew York City, NY$1,200442024
Doctors Without Borders USA IncNew York, NY$1,200222024
Japan SocietyNew York, NY$1,200442024
Little Red School House IncNew York, NY$1,200442024
Ars NovaNew York, NY$1,000222022
Classic Stage Company Theater the BardNew York, NY$1,000222022
Coalition for the HomelessWashington, DC$1,000222024
Enoch Pratt Free LibraryBaltimore, MD$1,000112024
Lukemia & Lymphoma Society Soy Claire ManganRye Brook, NY$1,000112022
Morgan LibraryNew York, NY$1,000442024
New York Metropolitan OperaNew York, NY$1,000222022
Pine Ridge Girls' SchoolHouston, TX$1,000222024
Rattlestick TheaterNew York, NY$1,000222022
MomaNew York, NY$980222022
Columbia Greene Hospital FoundationHudson, NY$900332024
New MuseumNew York, NY$800222022
Sweet ReliefFullerton, CA$785222022
Als AssociationWashington, DC$750332024
American Folk Art MuseumNew York, NY$750332023
Film ForumNew York, NY$750332024
New York PhilharmonicNew York, NY$750332023
Neue GallerieNew York, NY$650112021
Bobst LibraryNew York, NY$625112021
Friends of Bobst Library NyuNew York, NY$625112023
Times UpNew York, NY$600332024
New York Public LibraryNew York, NY$550442024
Birthright Israel FoundationNew York, NY$500112021
Maryland Citizens for the ArtsBaltimore, MD$500222022
Maryland Citizens for the Arts FoundationBaltimore, MD$500112024
Maryland HumanitiesBaltimore, MD$500112024
Maryland Humanities CouncilBaltimore, MD$500222022
Perlman Music ProgramShelter Island, NY$500112022
Storm King Art CenterNew Windsor, NY$500112023
White ColumnsNew York, NY$500112022
New York CaresNew York, NY$450332023
Friends of Rawlings ConservatoryBaltimore, MD$400442024
Purchase CollegePurchase, NY$400442024
St Anns WarehouseBrooklyn, NY$400222022
Torah InstituteOwings Mills, MD$400442024
Volunteer Lawyer for the ArtsNew York, NY$350332024
Brooklyn Academy of Music (friends of Bam)Brooklyn, NY$300222022
New York Botanical GardensBronx, NY$300112022
Universal Hip Hop MuseumBronx, NY$300332023
Frick MuseumNew York, NY$280222022
Museum of the Moving ImageAstoria, NY$280222022
B'more ClubhouseBaltimore, MD$250112023
Cylburn Arboretum AssociationBaltimore, MD$250112021
Folk Art MuseumNew York, NY$250112024
IcjsBaltimore, MD$250112024
Brooklyn Botanical GardenBrooklyn, NY$200222022
Jewish Museum of New YorkNew York, NY$125112021
Carnegie HallNew York, NY$100112022

82 of 101 (81%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 82%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 160 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
91 grants
Education
22 grants
Environment
11 grants
Health Care
7 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
7 grants
International Affairs
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
4 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202176$118,351$500
202280$131,492$500
202357$118,043$500
202459$123,424$750

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 65% of this one's giving went to organizations in Maryland. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Maryland
$320K
New York
$156K
District of Columbia
$12K
Virginia
$2K
Texas
$1K
California
$785

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund48 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc45 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc39 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program35 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust35 shared recipientsJewish Communal Fund31 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Maryland.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding environment in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Caplan Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 11433 Cronridge Dr, Owings Mills, MD, 21117. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 52-2005222 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.